Technologies

Fastest VPN of 2023

Most VPNs will cut your speeds in half. Get one that won’t. Here are the fastest VPNs we tested in 2023.

If you’re using a virtual private network for data-heavy online activities like streaming, gaming, video conferencing or torrenting, your VPN speeds will be a major consideration. Even if your internet is fast, keep in mind that most VPNs will typically cut your speeds in half, which could negatively affect your overall online experience. A fast VPN can help ensure that your streams are smooth, your games are free of lag, your calls are stable and your downloads are quick.

Testing to determine the fastest VPN is a time-intensive, imperfect process that can take various forms. At CNET, we’ve developed a speed testing methodology that seeks to mirror the typical VPN user’s most likely conditions. This way, our analysis of the fastest VPNs can provide the most practical value to VPN consumers.

And while we believe a VPN’s security is of paramount importance, we also understand that many VPN users may prioritize speed over security — if their primary use case is streaming, for example. That’s why we’ve also started taking into account speeds through lightweight VPN protocols like WireGuard and VPN providers’ own proprietary protocols. While WireGuard and other protocols like ExpressVPN’s Lightway and NordVPN’s NordLynx are by all indications highly secure, their security is not as battle-tested in the wild as OpenVPN.

On the flip side, these relatively newer protocols are typically faster than OpenVPN — often by a considerable margin. We still recommend using OpenVPN for the best balance of speed and security (and for anyone with critical privacy needs), but we tested their fastest protocols in order to measure them by their full potential for speed.

Keep in mind that this is a list of the fastest VPNs as we measured them in February and March of 2023, and should be referenced as a general guide to how you may expect these VPNs to perform for you. Your own results may vary, depending on various factors including what platform you’re using, your location and the level of service you’re receiving from your internet service provider.

VPN speeds compared

	2019 tested speed loss*	2020 tested speed loss*	2022 tested speed loss*	2023 tested speed loss*	Net change from previous test
NordVPN	32%	53%	13%	10%	Faster in 2023 tests
ExpressVPN	2%	51%	2%	18%	Slower in 2023 tests
IPVanish	N/A	65%	58%	26%	Faster in 2023 tests
Proton VPN	N/A	9%	17%	36%	Slower in 2023 tests
Surfshark	27%	17%	19%	40%	Slower in 2023 tests

*Lower number is better.

These are the fastest VPNs in 2023

NordVPN

The fastest VPN overall

10% speed loss in February/March 2023 speed tests (improved from 13% in 2022)
Fastest speed tested: 7% speed loss (NordLynx)
Fastest VPN connections: Europe
Slowest VPN connections: Singapore

NordVPN’s speeds have been improving over the past few years. In our 2020 speed tests we calculated a 53% speed loss, and in the summer of 2022 a 13% speed loss. In our most recent testing in February and March of 2023, the speed loss dropped to just 10% on average. The fastest round of testing yielded a mere 7% speed loss through its proprietary WireGuard-based NordLynx VPN protocol from our testing location in Ohio. This steady improvement in speeds has helped NordVPN leapfrog ExpressVPN and take the reins as the fastest VPN.

We were impressed with the consistency of NordVPN’s speeds across the board, regardless of whether we were testing speeds through OpenVPN or NordLynx. Our base internet speeds hovered around 370 megabits per second, and NordVPN’s speeds held consistently between around 320 to 355Mbps to server locations around the globe. We achieved the fastest speeds to servers in Europe, and as expected, the slowest speeds to Singapore. However, Nord’s speeds to Singapore were faster than other VPNs’ speeds to closer locations, which impressed us.

NordVPN offers a decent network of 5,500-plus servers in 60 countries around the world, including servers in 15 cities throughout the US. It pairs solid encryption with its blazing-fast speeds and provides tons of useful features. NordVPN works great on all platforms and is priced at $60 for the first year (then $100 for any subsequent years) or $13 per month. If you’re not satisfied, your purchase is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our NordVPN review.

NordVPN

Current fastest VPN we’ve tested
Tons of features
Diskless RAM-only server infrastructure
Solid encryption

59% off with 24-mo plan (+extra months)

$5.99/mo at NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Pricey, but fast and secure

18% speed loss in February/March 2023 tests (worse than 2% in 2022)
Fastest speed tested: 9% speed loss (OpenVPN)
Fastest VPN location: Europe
Slowest VPN location: Singapore

ExpressVPN wowed us with its incredible 2% speed loss last year — a result that placed it handily in the lead as our fastest VPN at the time. However, ExpressVPN’s stratospheric speeds came back down to Earth in our most recent tests, averaging a still respectable 18% speed loss overall. The recent drop in speeds has — for the time being — relegated ExpressVPN to second place behind NordVPN. ExpressVPN’s fastest round of tests yielded a 9% speed loss through OpenVPN. Though the provider’s proprietary Lightway protocol should theoretically be faster than OpenVPN, the fastest round of testing through Lightway was slightly slower at an 11% speed loss. Because we recommend OpenVPN for critical privacy needs (and due to its demonstrated commitment to security and transparency), ExpressVPN is perhaps an even better option than NordVPN for anyone looking for the very best combination of speeds and security.

Though not quite as consistent as NordVPN, ExpressVPN’s speeds were largely stable throughout the multiple rounds of testing we did to various server locations around the world. The fastest speeds we measured through ExpressVPN were to Europe, where we registered 343.31Mbps, and the slowest speeds we measured were to Singapore at 287.43Mbps, but speeds generally hovered in the low-to-mid 300s when testing the VPN’s speeds from Ohio.

ExpressVPN boasts one of the most expansive networks of servers in the VPN industry, with servers in 94 countries around the world. Its speed, security, transparency and impressive suite of privacy features has helped ExpressVPN earn CNET’s Editors’ Choice for Best VPN for 2023. It’s also a great option for streaming and gaming. However, ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPNs on the market today. The service doesn’t offer much in the way of introductory pricing like NordVPN does, but you can get your first 15 months for $100 if you purchase the yearly plan (which then renews annually at the same $100 rate). You can also choose a bi-annual plan for $60 every six months or a monthly plan at $13 per month. Like NordVPN, Express also offers a no-questions-asked, 30-day money-back guarantee.

Read our ExpressVPN review.

ExpressVPN

Among the fastest VPNs
Unblocks Netflix, great for gaming and P2P
Solid security and transparency, zero leaks
Excellent customer support, easy refunds

49% off with 12-mo plan (+3 free months)

$6.67/mo at ExpressVPN

How we tested VPN speeds

In the past, we tested VPN speeds strictly through the OpenVPN protocol because of its speed, security and ubiquity. But with all the top VPNs now offering speedier protocols, we’ve begun testing speeds through WireGuard and, if available, the VPN provider’s own proprietary protocol.

We conducted our latest speed tests in February and March of 2023 from testing locations in Cleveland, Ohio, and Budapest, Hungary. In addition to testing OpenVPN speeds from these locations, we tested speeds through WireGuard for Surfshark, Proton VPN and IPVanish. Additionally, we tested ExpressVPN’s speeds through its proprietary Lightway protocol and NordVPN’s speeds through its NordLynx protocol. We conducted five rounds of testing on each VPN, consisting of five separate tests each to five locations around the world. Five rounds of testing for each VPN from both testing locations using multiple VPN protocols added up to more than 2,500 individual speed tests overall.

Prior to each round of testing, we measured our non-VPN speeds five times to calculate the average speeds we were getting from our ISP. Then, we tested speeds five times each to VPN server locations in New York, the UK, Australia, Europe (France and Germany) and Singapore. This way, we’re able to get a good read on VPN speeds to popular locations across the globe. Once we completed the five rounds of testing to each location, we calculated our average VPN and non-VPN speeds to determine the percentage of speed lost overall through the VPN.

Calculating the percentage of speed lost through the VPN allows us to present a clear representation of how you can expect these VPNs to perform for you. Your base internet speeds may be a lot faster or a lot slower than what we got through the internet connections we used during our testing, so saying that we achieved speeds of 341.5Mbps with NordVPN doesn’t paint the full picture without putting it into the proper context of how much of a speed drop that was in relation to our base speeds.

We conducted all of our tests through the Ookla speed-testing platform, because it’s user-friendly and among the most widely used speed testing sites. It’s also the tool that most VPN users are likely to use to measure their own speeds.

What about Surfshark, IPVanish and Proton VPN?

Surfshark, IPVanish and Proton VPN all have the capacity to deliver speeds adequate for just about any online activity. However, their inconsistent speed performance during our testing dropped each one out of consideration for the fastest VPN crown.

You can typically expect to lose about half of your base internet speeds through most VPNs, so we were surprised to see that we lost a whopping 76% of our base speeds connecting through OpenVPN with Surfshark. We conducted more than 250 individual OpenVPN speed tests with Surfshark over the course of several weeks in case what we were seeing was an aberration, yet speeds were poor across the board through each location we tested, each time we tested it. By comparison, Surfshark’s sister company NordVPN only cut our speeds by 9% when connecting through OpenVPN.

Surfshark

40% speed loss in February/March 2023 speed tests (slower than 19% in 2022)
Fastest speed tested: 8% speed loss (WireGuard)
Fastest VPN connections: Europe
Slowest VPN connections: Singapore

See at Surfshark

We reached out to Surfshark to inquire about the issue with its OpenVPN speeds and a representative from the company told us that the poor speed performance must have begun recently because speeds have been consistently good over the past few months. The representative told us that the development team is investigating the issue and hopes to have it resolved soon. We will retest Surfshark’s speeds once the issue has been resolved and update our fastest VPN list as appropriate at that time.

That said, Surfshark’s WireGuard speeds were respectable. In our two rounds of testing Surfshark’s speeds through the WireGuard protocol, we calculated a 22% speed loss on average. In one round of testing, we measured only an 8% drop in speeds — which was actually among the fastest we measured. Surfshark is fast if you use WireGuard, but its OpenVPN speeds leave much to be desired, and ultimately bumped it out of the fastest VPN race. We recommend using OpenVPN for anything privacy critical, so if you want to use OpenVPN for your heightened privacy needs but don’t want to lose more than three-quarters of your internet speeds in the process, NordVPN or ExpressVPN would be a better bet at this time — based on our tests.

IPVanish

26% speed loss in February/March 2023 speed tests (faster than 58% in 2022)
Fastest speed tested: 14% speed loss (WireGuard)
Fastest VPN connections: New York
Slowest VPN connections: Singapore

See at IPVanish

When we tested IPVanish, we lost 58% of our speeds when connecting through OpenVPN from the US and 19% from Budapest. What was especially maddening was that the app didn’t always connect us to the fastest possible server when using IPVanish’s Quick Connect feature. While IPVanish’s speeds within the US were fairly consistent, speeds to other locations fluctuated dramatically. Speeds to Europe, for example, peaked as high as 317Mbps and dropped to as low as 40Mbps. We got faster and more consistent speeds when abandoning the Quick Connect feature and choosing servers manually while connecting via OpenVPN.

IPVanish’s WireGuard speeds were better, dropping our speeds by only 14.5% on average. During one round of testing IPVanish in Budapest, the ISP we were connected through was noticeably throttling our speeds, causing many of our VPN speed readings to be faster than our non-VPN readings, which ultimately resulted in a mere 3% average speed loss for that round. However, despite that anomaly, the inconsistent nature of IPVanish’s speeds along with how unreliably Quick Connect performed was what put it out of the running for the fastest VPN.

Proton VPN

36% speed loss in February/March 2023 speed tests (slower than 17% in 2022)
Fastest speed tested: 23% speed loss (WireGuard)
Fastest VPN connections: New York
Slowest VPN connections: UK

See at Proton VPN

Proton VPN was by far the most inconsistent of the bunch. The peaks and valleys we experienced in terms of speeds were staggering, regardless of protocol or testing location. Speeds would go up to 328Mbps and drop to 3Mbps in the same round of testing. Overall, Proton averaged a 36% speed loss, which is unexceptional, at best. If you’re looking for a VPN that consistently delivers fast speeds, Proton VPN is decidedly not the VPN you’re looking for.

How to get the most speed out of your VPN

There are a few things you can try if you want to speed up your VPN connection. In theory, WireGuard and newer, proprietary VPN protocols that more and more providers are offering should offer faster speeds than OpenVPN. You can try one of these protocols to boost your speeds if gaining maximum speed is your primary objective and you’re not getting what you want out of your OpenVPN connection.

If location is not a concern, you’ll want to connect to the server that’s the closest to your physical location. This will cut down on the physical distance your data has to travel and, in turn, deliver faster speeds.

Connecting to a server that is overloaded with users can result in undesirable speeds. Many VPN apps include information regarding server load, so try to look for a server indicating a light load for optimum speeds.

Fastest VPN FAQ

Which VPN is the fastest?

NordVPN is the fastest VPN right now, based on the extensive testing we conducted in 2023. Out of the VPNs we speed tested, NordVPN’s speeds were the most consistently fast across the board. NordVPN averaged just a 10% speed loss overall, with its best result being a 7% speed loss through WireGuard. ExpressVPN came in second place with an 18% average speed loss, with its best result being a 9% speed loss through OpenVPN.

Do I need a VPN?

You need a VPN if you want to maintain your privacy online and hide your internet activity from your ISP, government entities and other snoops. If you want to evade online censorship or unblock geographically restricted content, you need a VPN. VPNs can also be beneficial for gaming, torrenting, finding deals online and speeding up your internet connection if your ISP is deliberately throttling your speeds. Anyone who uses the internet can benefit from a VPN in one way or another.

How can I test my VPN speeds?

All you need to do to test your own VPN speeds is to use an online speed testing tool like the one provided by Ookla. First, test your base internet speeds with the VPN disengaged and make a note of your non-VPN speeds. Then, connect to a server through your VPN app and run a new speed test and note the speed change. It’s a good idea to run multiple tests both with and without the VPN turned on to get a fuller picture of the VPN’s speed performance. Most VPNs also offer a money-back guarantee, so it’s a good idea as well to test your VPN speeds during that trial period. If you’re not getting acceptable speeds even after trying different server locations and VPN protocols, you may want to give another VPN a try before the trial period ends.

What’s the best free VPN?

If you need to use a free VPN, we recommend using Proton VPN’s free version. It’s the only free VPN worth using, because it’s secure, comparatively fast and doesn’t impose usage or data caps. Otherwise, we don’t recommend using most free VPNs because the majority of them are essentially useless, if not downright dangerous. Free VPNs typically impose data and usage limits, employ weaker encryption and offer fewer server locations than their paid counterparts. Free VPNs also need to make money somehow, so you can expect them to be selling your data to third-party advertisers. Some have even been known to contain malware.

Technologies

Take Control of Your Google Search Results by Choosing the Sources You Want to See

Google adds a new feature to let you refine your search results to include the sites you like and trust.

Facing criticism for degraded search results and angst from users wanting to avoid AI Overviews, Google has announced a new search feature that lets you choose the sites you want to see in your news and search results.

Google said in a recent blog post that it’s launching Preferred Sources in the US and India this month. The new feature can be accessed through a plus icon to the right of Top Stories panels or a direct link to your preferences.

«Once you select your sources, they will appear more frequently in Top Stories or in a dedicated ‘From your sources’ section on the search results page. You’ll still see content from other sites, and can manage your selections at any time,» Google said.

The new feature is the result of a Labs experiment. Google says that in that version, half of its users added four or more sources. Google offered advice to website publishers and owners on how to direct readers to add their site.

How you can select your own preferred sources on Google Search

It’s simple to add preferred sources for Google Search. You can click the star icon to the right of any «Top Stories» panel in Google Search, which will spawn a pop-up window to add sources, or you can visit the settings page directly at https://www.google.com/preference/source.

Once you see the search box that says «Search by name or website,» type the name or URL of a site you definitely want to include in your search results — such as CNET or its sibling tech sites ZDNET, Mashable, PCMag and Lifehacker — then select the checkbox next to each site you want to add.

To view and manage your preferred sources, click on the «Your sources» link at the bottom of the preferences page. To remove any of your preferred sources, simply uncheck the checkbox for any sites you want to delete.

You can use any web browser on desktop or mobile to take advantage of Google’s new preferred sources feature, but you will need to be signed in to your Google account.

What it means for news sites and their readers

News organizations and other information sites have shifted before to cater to Google’s search algorithm as well as those on other platforms including Facebook and Instagram. Publishers executed a pivot to video in the 2010s, and in recent years produced more bite-sized content suitable for sharing on platforms such as TikTok.

The addition of news preferences might be a double-edged sword, giving you more control over search results while further shutting out some legitimate news publishers as new echo chambers get built.

«It’s almost like a tone-deaf move by Google in my point of view, because news organizations are already concerned about losing traffic to the AI overviews,» said Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise at Poynter, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media literacy program. «Now they have to figure out how to get people to pick their source in the source preferences.»

For bigger news publishers who have a loyal audience, Preferred Sources might prove that audience engagement efforts can pay off. But Mahadevan says it will depend on how willing people are to effectively subscribe to and curate their own news sources list.

«I question how many people will actually use it,» he said.

People may see their own beliefs reinforced, not challenged

Publishers who haven’t cultivated engaged, loyal followers and don’t have the means to steer their audiences might suffer, Mahadevan says.

«The thing that does concern me about this is you know for the organizations that may have not done that, it’s just going to further erode the amount of Google traffic they get,» Mahadevan said. «If way more people want news from Fox News and are choosing Fox News among their source preferences, then that’s going to be crowding out other news sites that might need that traffic.»

As an experiment, Mahadevan says he set Breitbart News Network as a source using the Google Search feature, saying he chose the far-right news source because it has been known to share misinformation.

«I started Googling about tariffs, and the first thing I see is Breitbart,» he said. «So this concerns me also from a media literacy standpoint because I think it might further push people into echo chambers,» where they only see beliefs that correspond with those they already hold.

«It just seems like a way for people to narrow down their news diet even more via Google Search,» Mahadevan said.

If SEO, the way that websites have for decades drawn Google traffic by generating good, relevant content, is effectively out the window, what does that mean for the future of publishing and media?

«Is there a strong enough media literacy base for people to make sure they’re choosing good, legitimate news outlets and a varied variety of news sources?» Mahadevan asked. «I don’t know if we’re quite there yet.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 19, #534

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 19, No. 534.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a tough one. There are only four answers, but they are all quite long and quite complicated — and some of them just aren’t used that much. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Dash it!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Long words separated by a piece of punctuation.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

COPS, DALE, PALE, HOTEL, PILL, PILLS, DATE, WENT, HILL, HILLY, WHEN, WANE, TOIL, TOILET, WILL, NILL, COPY

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight, but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

PELLMELL, HOCUSPOCUS, HOITYTOITY, WILLYNILLY

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is HYPHENATED. To find it, look for the H that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind across.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Technologies

Lenovo Legion Go S Is My New Favorite Way to Play Call of Duty Anywhere

With Battlefield 6 on its way, its time to take the fight on the road with my new gaming handheld, the Lenovo Legion Go S.

As a tech enthusiast, I do buy a lot of stuff (you know, just doing my bit!), but I believe the Lenovo Legion Go S is the best purchase I’ve made since the pandemic. The reason why? Sitting in bed and playing Call of Duty multiplayer is one of my new favorite things to do. It does come with some compromises, but playing my favorite game without setting foot on the floor? Worth it.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide which handheld to buy, whether the Steam Deck, the Nintendo Switch 2 or any one of a number of Windows devices. Here’s why I chose the Legion Go S and why I’ll probably never install SteamOS on it.

Also read: Best Handheld Gaming for 2025

Which handheld should I choose?

When I was looking for a handheld, I had only tried a handful of them before. I have used the ROG device and both Switches (and I own the original) but have still not played the OG: the Steam Deck. I have also envied friends’ Decks, but they have always seemed kinda janky, and you can’t play the latest Call of Duty or Battlefield games on SteamOS due to their respective antipiracy restrictions.

I was a little tempted by the prospect of the $450 Nintendo Switch 2, but having to build up a brand new library — and pay an eye-popping $80 a game — put me off. With the Legion S, I had the ability to enjoy every PC game I’ve ever played, and just for an extra $50 over the Switch.

Yes, I have read Scott Stein’s review of this Lenovo handheld, but I come at this device from 30 years of playing FPS games on PC. I know a lot about Windows’ shortcomings, and its… longcomings? Strengths? Strengths! Even so, I think this PC/gaming hybrid is exactly what I have dreamed about since playing Doom on my first 486.

A PC, but for your hands

The Legion Go S I bought features an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip with 32GB of RAM and a roomy 1TB of drive space. It cost $500, and that price is still available. You can buy the Legion Go S with Steam OS for $100 more right now, but it has lower specs.

I’ve seen a lot of people on Reddit who either bought the SteamOS version or bought the Windows version and installed Steam over the top— the latter is what I planned to do, too. However, I had the console in my hands for less than 5 minutes and decided it didn’t make sense to swap the OS. Keeping Windows not only gives me access to Steam and Xbox Games Pass, but also Blizzard and all of the other gaming apps I use.

There is the option to dual-boot into both Windows and Steam OS, but I haven’t seen the need so far. I have seen people complain about having to wait for Windows to boot, but I just leave it in standby with a click of the power button. Click again. It’s almost instantaneous.

I’ve just come back from a walk to the park, to eat some lunch and play a little of the new Battlefield beta on the Legion Go S (Windows). While my dog wasn’t impressed by the lack of walking we were doing, I had a real blast just killing time (and bad guys). It’s worth noting here that, as a beta, Battlefield 6 is not in any way optimized for specialized devices like the Legion Go S. For instance, I needed to calibrate the Legion’s joysticks to make them more responsive — they were very slow — and so in the meantime, Call of Duty is a much more streamlined experience.

On that point, Call of Duty on the Legion Go S is super smooth, and it’s fun to pick up a quick round of Gun Game. It’s the more casual games that work best on this device, and I can plug in for a few minutes, get some frags and get on with my day. If I’m looking to play something more involved — like Battlefield Conquest, then a PC is better.

However, I do think Scott Stein’s review of the device is right on the money with many of his points. Particularly in terms of loading times of games — the handheld can just look like it’s stopped working — and it takes about a minute for Call of Duty to load every time. Not great for the «casual» vibe, but meh, I can live with it. In addition, you will definitely need to turn some of the settings in FPS games right down.

Bridging the gap

Until now, all of my PC gaming was done on an Intel desktop — which I did buy in the middle of the pandemic — and so it’s getting a little long in the tooth now. I do top it up with more storage and RAM when it’s needed. My main game machine for the past few years has actually been the Xbox Series X, but now the Lenovo is helping bridge the gap between lean-forward and lean-back gaming on the couch.

While my PC and Xbox are still great, it’s not always convenient to game in the ways I want. For instance, in addition to loads of Call of Duty and Battlefield, I also play Steam library party games like Pummel Party and Jackbox Games. Until now, I’d stream them from my PC into the living room using Steam Link. But this method does introduce some lag and the occasional image defect, and not to mention that it’s clunky — sometimes I’ll need to duck back into the other room to fix something. Now, with the addition of a $30-plus dock, I can plug the Legion straight into my TV.

As a longtime Windows user, it’s the ability to do anything on the Legion that a PC can do that is most enticing. I even used its on-screen keyboard to write this sentence. Though… I just found that more awkward than a physical keyboard, and the text was filled with errors — it would be OK to use in a pinch, but a physical keyboard is still king. The lack of a keyboard has another downside: It’s not possible to do shortcuts as easily. It’s a matter of learning a bunch of new buttons, and forget about navigating with the onboard «pointer» — it’s awkward and quite imprecise.

Final thoughts

Do I top the Call of Duty leaderboards using a handheld? I did… once. But mostly, I’m terrible. The Go is a little too heavy and bulky to be fully agile with the right joystick, in particular, as you’re usually supporting the device’s weight. You can put it on a table, and when I did that with the natty 8BitDo Lite controller, it was a lot easier to control. I still died a lot, though. I am better with a mouse and keyboard.

Mostly, though, I play on the Legion Go S because I can get my CoD fix without the hassle of sitting at a desk or turning on the living room TV and Xbox. Dead Kennedys said it best when it named its album «Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.» Ideally, those deaths would involve those of the opposing team, but really, I’m just happy to be involved.